Caravan and park home sites are licensed under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 by the Housing Standards section of the council. There are three types of site, which are required to be licensed:
The government website has Guidance and Information for park home residents in England on their rights and obligations under the Mobile Homes Act 1983.
Over 20,000 people in the UK live in mobile homes, some through choice and others because it is the only housing option available to them. Some rent, whilst the majority own their home but someone else usually owns the land it stands on, the part owner.
All park or mobile homes sites must have a licence. Before a licence can be issued, planning permission has to have been granted. The council cannot refuse to grant a licence and a licence cannot be issued for a limited time period, unless the planning permission has a time limit on it.
If you are thinking of purchasing a Park home, we STRONGLY recommend that you obtain an Energy Performance Certificate and a structural report from a suitably qualified Surveyor before purchasing.
Licence conditions for North Lincolnshire park and mobile home sites are based on the ‘1989 model standards’ but in future any new sites will have conditions based on the ‘Model Standards 2008 for caravan sites in England’.
If you think the site owner is not looking after the park properly or is not providing adequate services, you should check what their duties are under the site licence. In order to get a site licence, the park must meet certain safety and amenity standards set by the council.
If there are three or more caravans on your site, the licence should be displayed in a prominent place. If you cannot see it, you should ask the council to send you a copy or arrange an appointment for you to look at it.
If the licence does not cover the matter that you are concerned about, you can either talk to the site owner or tell the council that you think the licence is inadequate.
As a mobile home resident you are probably in the unusual position of owning your home but not the land on which it is situated.
All mobile home parks must have a licence issued by the council by virtue of this Act. The council cannot refuse to grant a licence and a licence cannot be issued for a limited period (unless the planning permission has a time limit). However, the council does attach conditions to the licences of all mobile home parks, specifying minimum standards, which must be achieved and maintained by the site owner. Licence conditions for North Lincolnshire Council parks are the ‘1989 Model Standards’ issued by the Department of the Environment, which forms an integral part of the 1960 Act, and also forms the basis of regular site inspections carried out by the council. Items covered include:
The council cannot address any matters outside the scope of the site licence conditions. These can only be tackled by you under your rights contained in the Mobile Homes Act 1983.
This Act gives you the right to have a written agreement that sets out both the site owner’s and your responsibilities. The agreement must contain the name and address of the site owner, a description of the pitch to which the agreement relates, together with implied and express terms.
Implied terms cannot under any circumstances be changed, and cover issues such as:
Express terms, on the other hand, can be altered either by agreement or by order of the county court. Express terms vary from park to park and will cover such matters as pitch fees, service charges and details about maintenance responsibilities for the site and the homes on it. The Mobile Homes Act potentially provides you with extensive rights. Unfortunately, it is only enforceable through the civil courts meaning that your must pursue any action yourself, usually with the assistance of a solicitor. The council is not able to intervene on your behalf.
The Mobile Homes (Requirements for Manager of Site to Fit and Proper) (England) Regulations 2020 requires that the council
Non statutory Government Guidance can be found here: Mobile homes fit and proper person test: guidance for local authorities – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The deadline for applications is 1 October 2021.
From 1 October 2021, unless the site is exempt, the site owner must:
Site owners operating a relevant protected site must apply (after 1 July 2021) to the council for the relevant person (themselves or their appointed manager) to be included in the local register of fit and proper persons to manage a site.
You can apply by downloading the application form downloading the application form [PDF, 232Kb]. Please refer to our Application Guidance [197Kb].
A site owner may only apply if they hold or have applied for a site licence for the site.
A site is exempt if it’s “a non-commercial family occupied site”. This is one:
The regulations and the non-statutory guidance detailed above provide further detail about this exemption. See the GOV.UK – legislation website for more details.
In order to inform the councils decision that the relevant person is a fit and proper person to manage the site, and to add them to the register, it will consider:
We will also consider whether the relevant person:
Consideration of the conduct of any person associated or formerly associated with the relevant person (whether on a personal, work or other basis), if it appears that person’s conduct is relevant .
We can also consider any evidence on any other relevant matters.
Where more than one application has to be made in cases where an application has been rejected or where there is more than one responsible person a further £256 will be levied per fit and proper person check.
This legislation contains provisions for the protection of occupiers against eviction and harassment and is enforced by the council.
Harassment, in the legal sense – which is the only type of harassment over which the council has any control – is confined to a site owner illegally depriving occupiers of occupation of their mobile home or carrying out acts calculated to interfere with the peace and comfort of an occupier with the intention of causing them to leave or stopping them exercising a right or remedy that they may have.
Any other form of harassment – for example, the site owner being abusive – cannot be pursued by the council.
Further detailed information is available on the government legislation website.
The Mobile Homes Act 2013 is designed to give greater protection to occupiers of residential mobile (park) homes.
The Mobile Homes Act covers a number of issues related to mobile home sites such as security of tenure, the agreement between residents and owners and the sale of homes. Any residents who experience problems related to their agreement should obtain legal advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau, Shelter or an appropriate solicitor.
The following came into force on 26 May 2013:
One of the main issues of concern in the past was ‘sale blocking’ by some park owners. The new Act has made changes to the procedure when a park home is sold or gifted on a park.
The following came into force on 1 April 2014:
The Council will be able to charge the site owner a fee for applying for a site licence. As well as an application fee the Council is entitled to charge park owners for the site licence itself.
The council will be given the power to refuse a licence where it considers the applicant unsuitable to hold a licence.
A fit and proper person test may also be introduced.
The council is to be given new powers to enforce site licence conditions. If a park owner is in breach of any site licence conditions the council may swerve an enforcement notice on the park owner. Failure to comply would be a criminal offence, punishable by a substantial fine and further prosecutions could lead to revocation of the site licence.
Mobile homes are an economical housing option, some people particularly those of retirement age, choose to move into mobile accommodation, often selling traditional property to do so. They are also often a cheaper option for both owning and renting.
Does the home and site comply with all the council’s licensing conditions? (These should be displayed on the site in a readily accessible position).
You should ask to see a copy of the site or tenancy agreement that you will be required to sign.
Even if you own land to put a mobile home on, you will need planning permission and a site licence, which you can obtain by writing to the council.
Yes. Park homes should be built to a British Standard (BS3632). Various schemes exist, such as the Gold Shield Ten Year Warranty, to ensure that park homes comply with these standards. Make sure that any mobile home you buy is covered by a warranty.
A list of approved caravan, motor home and caravan leisure home models can be found at the National Caravan Council (NCC) website. The NCC has checked these models and approved that they comply with UK legislation and safety regulations. They will carry an NCC approved sticker.
Unfortunately, tenants or owners of mobile homes do not have as many rights as owners or tenants of “bricks and mortar” homes. This is because different laws apply to mobile homes.
If you have a complaint concerning a mobile home park you should try to contact the site owner or manager in the first place to give them the chance to remedy the situation. If the site owner or manager is reluctant or slow to address the problem, you should then contact the Housing Standards section of the council who may be able to take further action.
If your park is a member of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association (BH&HPA) or the National Park Homes Council (NPHC), you can take your complaint to these organisations and they will do their best to resolve the dispute.
The site owner may set site rules on residential caravan sites. The council does not enforce these rules, although some rules may be a duplicate of the site licence conditions. The site rules are part of the contract between the home owner and site owner, and supplement the Mobile Homes Act Agreement.
The council is required to keep and publish a register of site rules. We will update this page when we are notified by site owners that rules are in force. The rules that appear below have been written by the site owners, and not North Lincolnshire Council.
Scotter Road
North Lincolnshire
DN17 1SU
Site Rules Deposited – 21 October 2014
Parklands site rules [PDF, 127Kb]
Burringham Road
Scunthorpe
North Lincolnshire
DN17 2AL
Site Rules Deposited – 24 October 2014
Ashfield Park Homes Limited [PDF, 1Mb]
Mobile Homes Park
Barton upon Humber
North Lincolnshire
DN18 5SW
Site Rules Deposited – 29 October 2014
Barton Broads site rules [PDF, 168Kb]
Ferry Road West
Scunthorpe
North Lincolnshire
DN15 8UF
Site Rules Deposited – 13 March 2015
Charnwood site rules [PDF, 669Kb]
Our Park Home Licensing Policy [PDF, 97Kb] details the fees to be charged for all the licensing functions surrounding the set up and management of caravan sites.
The fee levels have been calculated based on average time and costs involved in undertaking the activities involved. The fee rates as set out in this report relate to the financial year 2017/2018. The invoices will be issued on the 1 September of each financial year.
If you have any questions regarding the policy please contact us at housing@northlincs.gov.uk.